Track Listing

1. El Manicero (The Peanut-Seller) - Edward Simon
2. Rojas Beoto Guyún - El Maestro, For Guitar
3. Rojas Beoto en el Abra del Yumurí (In Yumuri Bay), For Guitar
4. Rojas Beoto Francito y Alfonsito, For Guitar
5. Rojas Beoto Lilliam, For Guitar
6. Rojas Beoto Guajira a Mi Madre (Guajira for My Mother), For Guitar
7. Preludio for Guitar (Theme from Film Soy Cuba)
8. Canción, For Guitar - Aldo Rodríguez
9. Danza, For Guitar - Aldo Rodríguez
10. Suite Breve, For Guitar
11. Berceuse: Canción de Cuna on a Theme of Grenet - Leo Brouwer
12. Zapateo, For Guitar - Leo Brouwer
13. Ojos Brujos for Guitar - Leo Brouwer
14. Canción Triste (Sad Song), For Guitar
15. Cantos Yoruba de Cuba, For Guitar - Héctor Angulo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77044 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Album Description
This recital gives a fascinating insight into the many influences on Cuban culture: among them 400 years of Spanish colonial rule and 60 years of exposure to North American culture prior to the 1959 revolution. The music ranges across Afro-Cuban rhythms, twentieth century harmonies, elements of jazz and impressionism, traditional European forms of composition, the country dance form known as the son montuno, and contemporary harmonization of Yoruba melodies from the Oriente region.

Customer Reviews

Solo Cuban Guitar Music Highlighted in Diverse Program
This is a highly listenable recording from Naxos spotlighting the importance of Cuban solo guitar music. The talented guitarist is Marco Tamayo, and the selections reflect a compendium of the finest among Cuban composers: Ñico Rojas, the self taught guitarist, composer and leading figure in the filin (feeling) movement; Harold Gramatges, the prolific and much respected classical composer; Moisés Simons, the composer of the popular "El Manicero" ("The Peanut-Seller"), credited here to Edward Simons; and Leo Brouwer, an otherwise avant-garde experimentalist. Although many of the arrangements are within the soft-jazz, Earl Klugh-like space, the pieces do not belie their Cuban heritage and range from the traditional dance genres such as zapateo, guiajira and son pregón, through Rojas' jazz-influenced harmonies to Gramatges' neo-classical miniatures.

The tone can be at once seductive and then later inspirational, yet what remains consistent is Tamayo's delicate and assured playing, which beautifully conveys the gentle relaxed quality of these works, Some pieces stand alone, such as "El Manicero" (which some may recognize as a variation of the tropical song Judy Garland sang in the "Born in a Trunk" number in "A Star Is Born") or the "Preludio" (the theme from the film "Soy Cuba") and "Canción Triste" by Carlos Fariñas. The remainder function as part of short suites, for instance, the lovely canción-danza pairing by Aldo Rodriguez, which gives a nice structure to otherwise disparate musical styles. The last eight tracks represent an adaptation of Yoruba religious music by Hector Angulo. Quite beautiful and atmospheric on their own, these short pieces convey some intriguing rhythmic drive and complexity that seem odd for a guitar by itself to express. But the Cuban-born Tamayo (now teaching master classes in Salzburg at the Mozarteum) shows impressive dexterity in capturing such emotions on the guitar. As a whole, the album reveals a repertoire well worth discovering and another dimension of Cuban music beyond salsa and the Buena Vista Social Club. This is another of Naxos' discounted recordings ($6.98), an excellent purchase.

marco tamayo plays cuban guitar music
With so many guitarists recording the classical guitar standards , this is a refreshing album with largely unknown but also very interesting guitar compositions which are pleasant and substantial. The pieces give a good overview of guitar composers from cuba, played by Marco Tamayo, who is refreshingly musical and technically on top of his playing.